A masked gunman went on a shooting spree Tuesday at an Oregon mall packed with Christmas shoppers, slaying two people before being "neutralized", police said, DPA reported.
The shooting began shortly before 4 pm (0000 Wednesday GMT) at the Clackamas Town Centre, the daily Portland Oregonian reported online, citing law enforcement sources.
A sports reporter from the newspaper who was shopping at the time said that he heard up to 60 shots. Police had received a report of a masked man wearing a white mask and body armour carrying a military-style assault rifle in the shopping centre's food court.
An apparel store owner inside the mall told the newspaper that she saw a crowd of people running from the Macy's department story.
Large numbers of police swarmed the area in a desperate search for the gunman. But an hour after the incident, police told reporters that the gunman had been neutralized.
"We believe there was one and only one shooter involved and that shooter is deceased," Lieutenant James Rhodes of the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office said according to local TV station KGW.
It was unclear whether he killed himself or was shot by police.